William Hamilton of Bangour
William Hamilton of Bangour (1704 - 25 March 1754) was a Scottish poet. Life Overview Hamilton was born at the family seat in Linlithgowshire. Cultivated and brilliant, he was a favorite of society, and began his literary career by contributing verses to Allan Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany. He joined the Pretender in 1745, and celebrated the Battle of Prestonpans in Gladsmuir. After Culloden he wandered in the Highlands, where he wrote his Soliloquy, and escaped to France. His friends, however, succeeded in obtaining his pardon, and he returned to his native country. In 1750, on the death of his brother, he succeeded to the family estate, which, however, he did not long live to enjoy. He is best remembered for his fine ballad of "The Braes of Yarrow." He also wrote "The Episode of the Thistle." He died at Lyons.John William Cousin, "Hamilton, William (of Bangour)," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 176. Web, Jan. 23, 2018. Youth Hamilton was born in 1704 at Bangour, Linlithgowshire. He was the 2nd son of James Hamilton of Bangour, advocate, whose grandfather, James, 2nd son of John Hamilton of Little Earnock, Lanarkshire, founded the Bangour family.Bayne, 222. Adult life His naturally delicate constitution, as well as his tastes, had all along prevented him from going much into fashionable society, and from his early years he had given himself to poetry, receiving ready commendation from his friends. Between 1724 and 1727 he contributed lyrics to Allan Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, and he showed a practical interest in the success of the 'Gentle Shepherd.' This poem is dedicated, 25 June 1725, to the beautiful and much admired Countess of Eglintoun, whose favourable consideration of Ramsay's merits is further solicited by Hamilton in a set of spirited heroic couplets following the dedication. The poet's ardor in his love-songs led, at least in one case, to a feeling of resentment on the part of a lady, who consulted his close friend Lord Kames in her dilemma (Life of Kames, i. 96), and, acting on his advice to profess a return of affection, quickly startled Hamilton into an attitude of distant reserve. Heartily espousing the cause of the Stuarts, Hamilton in his "Gladsmuir" celebrated the Jacobite victory at Prestonpans. After Culloden he was for a time in hiding in the highlands, and "A Soliloquy wrote in June 1746" is charged with a deep feeling of his troubles. Ultimately he succeeded along with others in reaching France. On the intercession of influential friends, he was allowed to return to Scotland. On the death of his elder brother, without heir, in 1750, Hamilton succeeded to the estate, but the great strain had deeply affected his weak constitution, and he found it impossible to remain at home. His last days were spent at Lyons, where he died of consumption, 25 March 1754. His body was brought to Scotland, and buried in the Abbey Church, Holyrood. Hamilton was twice married, and James, his son by his 1st wife, a daughter of Sir James Hall, bart., succeeded to the estate. Writing Besides conventional lyrics of comparatively small account, Hamilton wrote various notable poems. In "Contemplation, or the Triumph of Love," warmly praised in the Lounger, by Prof. Richardson and Henry Mackenzie, there is much ingenuity of reflection and illustration, in rhymed octo-syllabics evincing structural skill and dexterity. The translations from Greek and Latin poets notably those from Horace display both scholarship and metrical grace. The Parting of Hector and Andromache, from the 1st Iliad, has the distinction of being the earliest Homeric translation into English blank verse. The "Episode of the Thistle," ingeniously explaining the remote origin of the Scottish national emblem "the armed warrior with his host of spears" is not without a measure of epic force and dignity. The winter piece in the 3rd of 4 odes, besides its intrinsic merits, probably inspired the opening passage of the 1st introduction in Marmion. But the prominent and thoroughly individual feature of the poems is what Wordsworth, in the heading to Yarrow Unvisited, calls "the exquisite ballad of Hamilton." Scott, in his introductory remarks to the "Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (Border Minstrelsy, iii. 145), says: "It will be, with many readers, the greatest recommendation of these verses, that they are supposed to have suggested to Mr. Hamilton of Bangour the modern ballad beginning, :﻿Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride." If for this poem alone, Hamilton will not be forgotten. When Hamilton was on the continent, a surreptitious collection of his poems was issued in a 12mo volume in 1749 by the brothers Foulis of Glasgow, under the title Poems on Several Occasions. This was reissued in foolscap 8vo as Hamilton of Bangour's Poems. On his return he meditated a collection under his own hand, but his weak health caused delay, and it was not till after his death that his friends published in Edinburgh, in one volume 12mo, Poems on Several Occasions, by William Hamilton of Bangour, Esquire. This contains a short biographical preface and a likeness of the poet by Strange, an associate in his Jacobite adventures. A manuscript, with unpublished poems of Hamilton, is entered in the David Laing MSS. Catalogue, University Library, Edinburgh, as Poems of William Hamilton of Bangour, Esq. Chambers mentioned this as in the possession of George Chalmers. Publications *''The Faithful Few: An ode inscribed to all lovers of their country''. Edinburgh: printed by W. Cheyne, 1734. *''Eighteenth Epistle of the Second Book of Horace imitated''. Edinburgh: J. Wright, 1737. *''Three Odes; to which is added, The miss and the butterfly: A fable''. Edinburgh: 1739. *''An Ode on the Victory at Gladsmuir''. Edinburgh: 1745. *''A Soliloquy''. Edinburgh: 1746. *''Contemplation; or, The triumph of love''. Edinburgh: Hamilton & Balfour, 1747. *''Poems on Several Occasions''. Glasgow: Robert & Andrew Foulis, 1748; Edinburgh: W. Gordon, 1760. *''The Poetical Works''. (2 volumes), London: Charles Whittingham at the Stanhope Press, for John Sharpe, 1805. *''The Poems of William Hamilton of Bangour''. London: Johnson, 1810. *''The Poems of William Hamilton''. Chiswick, UK: Press of C. Whittingham, 1822. *''Poems and Songs: Collated with the ms. volume of his poems, and containing several pieces hitherto unpublished'' (edited by James Paterson). Edinburgh: T.G. Stevenson, 1850. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:William Hmilton 1754, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 5, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, July 5, 2016. Notes External links ;Poems *William Hamilton of Bangour (1704-1754) info & 4 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;About * Hamilton, William (1704-1754) Category:1704 births Category:1754 deaths Category:Scottish poets Category:Jacobite propagandists Category:Scottish Jacobites Category:Scottish political writers Category:People from West Lothian Category:Scottish expatriates in France Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets